We’ll start with the silver lining. Out of the 7,519 homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2017, only 361 of them were foreclosure sales. Distressed home sales at the end of 2017 represented only 5.3% of inventory, down from 8.9% in 2016.

Distressed inventories were abnormally high for years following the Great Recession, but are steadily closing in on historical norms. This benefits home values, but it means home buying bargains will be harder to find!

Looking at the market as a whole, January 2018 home inventory is down 21.2% from a year ago. Homes spent an average of 44 days on market, compared to 50 days in January 2017. Average home prices pressed higher, increasing by 5.8% to $205,779.

Fear not, the sky isn’t falling for Columbus home buyers! Remember that statistics never tell the whole story, since they are driven by Multiple Listing Service data. In short, if a listing agent isn’t involved, the property is “off the books” of the MLS. This means that homes For Sale by Owner, and new construction for sale by builders, isn’t included in the inventory figures.

And while some homeowners may not be in a hurry to sell today, there are many reasons a home can end up on the market. Here’s just some of them:

• Income loss or other personal hardship
• Death of homeowner – estate sale
• Job transfer
• Military transfer
• Divorce
• Changes in household formation
• Retirement/downsizing
• Moving closer to family

Listing agents would have you believe that profit is the sole motivation behind a home sale! It isn’t. Certainly, home sellers want to make profit whenever possible, but life changes are often the real impetus behind a sale.

Some homeowners may be feeling held back, despite the market conditions. Some may remain upside-down in equity, if they purchased at the peak of the market and were over-leveraged. Others may have purchased at an advantageous price and have an enviable interest rate, making for a low housing payment they couldn’t duplicate today.

All that aside, the Columbus real estate market is always changing, and every community has market conditions that vary by neighborhood, and even street by street. If you’ve been conducting online home searches on your own, you may never be able to “catch up!”

Plus, you are unlikely to find the FSBO and builder homes for sale that we can locate for you, and show to you! Because we only represent Buyer-Clients, and don’t harass these sellers to market their listing, they welcome us with open arms.

And because we have broker-level access to the Columbus Regional Multiple Listing Service, we can conduct a more through, effective home search than the public. This can save you time and an enormous amount of frustration, because we can find information that isn’t available to the public – such as adverse conditions, contract status, and price change history.

If you are serious about buying a Columbus home, begin by becoming our Buyer-Client! We will help you with your home search, and provide you with fiduciary representation throughout the home buying process. This protects you from over-paying for a home, and from contractual missteps and pitfalls.

As your Exclusive Buyer’s Broker, we serve your best interests at all times! Unlike real estate agents and brokerages who represent sellers, as an Exclusive Buyer’s Broker, we only represent you, the buyer, getting you the best price and terms with no conflict of interest at all times.

Understanding this distinction could literally save you thousands of dollars not only on the purchase price and terms, but also on seller concessions and home inspection issues, whether you are a first-time homebuyer or an experienced homeowner!

Contact us with your home buying questions! Remember, we are with you every step of the way…all the way home!

Andrew Show
Broker, CEBA-M, CNE, CSP, PSA, e-PRO, CREM, ABRM, AHWD
Buyer’s Resource Realty Services, www.buyershome.com
Serving Metro Columbus, Ohio with Exclusive Buyer’s Agents
7100 North High Street, Suite 204, Worthington, Ohio 43085
614-888-4110 | 888-888-4110 Toll Free | 614-839-4110 Fax

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